Is Fragmented Financing Bad for Your Health?

Inquiry, Summer 2011

32 Pages Posted: 17 Aug 2008 Last revised: 13 May 2011

See all articles by Steven D. Pizer

Steven D. Pizer

Boston University - School of Public Health; Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

John A. Gardner

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Date Written: January 7, 2011

Abstract

Americans finance health care through a variety of private insurance plans and public programs. This organizational fragmentation could threaten continuity of care and adversely affect outcomes. Using a large sample of veterans who were eligible for mixtures of VA- and Medicare-financed care, we estimate a system of equations to account for simultaneity in the determination of financing configuration and the probability of hospitalization for an ambulatory care sensitive condition. We find that a one standard deviation change in financing fragmentation increases the risk of an adverse outcome by one fifth.

Keywords: Health Insurance, Health Outcomes, Selection Models

JEL Classification: I12, I18

Suggested Citation

Pizer, Steven D. and Pizer, Steven D. and Gardner, John A., Is Fragmented Financing Bad for Your Health? (January 7, 2011). Inquiry, Summer 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1226522

Steven D. Pizer (Contact Author)

Boston University - School of Public Health ( email )

150 S. Huntington Ave.
Mail Stop 152H
Boston, MA 02130
United States
857-364-6061 (Phone)
857-364-4511 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.hcfe.research.va.gov

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

810 Vermont Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20420
United States

John A. Gardner

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ( email )

150 S. Huntington Ave.
Mail Stop 152H
Boston, MA 02130
United States

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